Berlin-Tegel Airport, Berlin, Germany

Date: December 20th 2010

Drink: Venti Quad-Shot Vanilla Latte (twice) + two bagels with extra extra cream cheese

a view of the cafe from below

This Starbucks cafe is seriously really cool. It’s located at Berlin-Tegel Airport just as you walk in the main entrance of Terminals B & C, and it’s on the second story overlooking the main entrance. Starbucks was really smart with this location. They placed the omnipresent Green Siren – WHICH I JUST FOUND OUT THEY’RE CHANGING!!!!!! – just above the sign that tells you which way to go for what service in the airport. How smart is that? Seriously!

the Green Siren just above the terminal signs... smart!

But it is difficult to get to because you have to figure out where the stairs are. Still, it’s a really nice Starbucks. When we walked in, we were happy to discover that this Starbucks, like almost every other cafe we go to, was packed. We waited long enough to find some seats at a front bar on the balcony, so we could people watch if we weren’t too busy working on our computers. Which we had all day to do.

We had decided to drive back from Leipzig early, because otherwise Hertz was going to charge us for an extra day and because we were getting the weekend rate and this was a Monday, it would cost us an extra 100 euro just to keep the car for a few extra hours. So we arrived at the airport 6 hours before our flight. bleh!!! 3 of the hours we spent at Starbucks, and 3 of the hours we spent at our eventual terminal, where I made good progress on the book I started reading (finally got around to opening Ivanhoe) and decided on the perfume I would switch to, thanks to the Duty Free Shop. But Starbucks, thanks for opening such a cool location. It was really the only good part about Berlin-Tegel Airport, which is a really old airport! And when we finally got on our delayed airplane, we began our long long long trek home. As a final part to this post, let me just say that we got home 44 hours after we left Leipzig. Yes, I might be able to say LONG again!

a view from the opposite balcony... I *think* you can see Simeon sitting there....

Leipzig City Centre 2

Date: December 19^th, 2010

Drink: none this time (we were already drinking gluhwein)

After walking around Leipzig city centre all day long, our feet were exhausted. We were retracing our steps, a little disappointed that we hadn’t found the second Starbucks, when we saw people carrying around waffles filled with cream. We had seen them earlier and our mouths had watered. Now, on our way home, we were determined to find the stand. We followed the smell of waffles; and as the number of people carrying these cream-filled waffles increased, we knew we were getting close. It was dark out, and it was bitterly cold. Yet the air of the city was festive anyway; it reminded me of a carnival. At last we found the stand, and we decided to each order our own, filled with vanilla cream! So good! And after the waffles, I saw a stand of gluhwein and thought to myself, well, it might be years before I’m ever back in Germany during Christmas time again, so I might as well buy another gluhwein and enjoy my taste of Germany. So Simeon had to wait patiently while I finished my gluhwein.

After the gluhwein, we left for the tram station, but as we passed the waffle stand, there was the Starbucks! The second one, which I wished we had found earlier, because I was already full from the gluhwein and the cream-filled waffles. But at least we know where they both are now! And I’ve heard it told that there is a third Starbucks in Leipzig, but I don’t think it’s in the city centre…. Something for me to discover if I’m ever in Leipzig again!